Sumo tickets for September tournament

Hey everyone,

My boyfriend and I have been planning our Japan trip for months now, and one of the first things we found out was that we are in Tokyo during the Sumo event in September.

Now, I've got the date in my calendar and reminders set, and I am even prepared to wake up in the middle of the night when the ticket sale begins (is this necessary?)

However, I read somewhere on Reddit that it isn't possible to buy Sumo tickets through the official website with a foreign credit card. Is this correct? I can only find a post on here from 2010, I hoped maybe they would've changed it now.

If so, does anyone have any alternative thrustworthy websites I can use to buy my Sumo tickets? We really want to go and treat it like on of the biggest highlights of our upcoming trip.

Thanks in advance!

I bought my ticket last year from buysumotickets dot com....very reliable imo.

I have read that tickets sell out very quickly on the Japanese site - don't know about foreign credits cards but I did not want to take the chance.

I will probably be going again next year and will use the above service again.

Tickets for Sumo in Tokyo sell out incredibly fast. I tried twice within the minute of the presale opening and the Japanese webpage just crashes. The phone number stops working and at the conbini the machine can�ft connect either.

Maybe only advise is to be flexible and be able to buy tickets for a weekday/non-holiday. For those days it seemed possible.

Through the official site, tickets sell out within a few minutes. If you can get through the process (as the site gets very overloaded) you can use an overseas credit card.
Buysumotickets.com is a pre-order service and not guaranteed.
Higher chances getting tickets during the week - weekend tickets are very hard to secure.

Hi EtienneH,

Just as like any other sports venue, there are different types of seats which vary in how close they are to the ring and how expensive they are. The big tournaments often sell out around a month before the event so it is recommended to buy your tickets as early as possible. Some sumo tickets are normally reserved for people who turn up on the day.

Based on my experience, ringside seats are the best seats. However, they are also the most expensive and difficult ones to get! That's because spectators in these seats are very close to the action. More information about booking tickets: https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/sumo-wrestling#Booking_seats_for_sumo_t...

Have a safe and fun tournament!